Granulating-machine.



No. 656,297. Patented Au 2|, 1900.

A. R. MORRIS. GRANULATING' MACHINE.

(Application fild 1m '22, 1900.

. (Nu Modal.)

2 Sheets-Sheet A. R. MORRIS. GBANULATINIG momma.

Patented Aug. 2|, I900.

(Application filed In. 22, 1900.)

n1: Norms pc-rzns c0.. VNOTO-LITNQ. WAsHINGTON. u. c.

NlTE D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM ROXVLAND MORRIS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEMORRIS TABLET MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE AND CAMDEN, NE\V JERSEY.

GRANULATING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming partoi Letters Patent No. 656,297, dated August21, 1900.

Application filed January 22, 1900. Serial No. 2,272. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM ROWLAND MORRIS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Granulators, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has relation to an apparatus for mechanically transformingplastic or semiplastic materials into granules or into a granulatedcondition, and in such connection it relates to the construction andarrangement of such apparatus for said purpose.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a comparativelysimple, durable, and

effective apparatus wherein plastic or semiplastic materials can bemechanically granulated.

Heretofore in the manufacture of pharmaceutical and similar preparationsthe doughlike or semiplastic materials have been granulated manually, asfollows: A small portion of the mass was placed in a basin or receptaclehaving a sieve-like base and the mass forced through the meshes and cutoff by the pressure and movement of the hand of the operator. Such amethod of procedure was not only uncleanly, but very slow andexceedingly laborious and expensive.

My present invention consists of a machine for granulating plastic orsemiplastic materials wherein a sieve is reciprocated mechanically inone plane and the material fedto and through the meshes of the sieve bya feeding mechanism which mechanically takes of the same, partiallysectioned. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in longitudinal section and partlyin elevation, of an apparatus embodying the characteristic features ofmy invention. Fig. 4 is a top or plan View enlarged, partly in brokensections, of the sieve or screen of the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a verticalsectional view through the apparatus on the line 00 w of Fig.

3, and Fig. 6 is an end view of one of the.

scraping devices adjustably secured to the hopper and adapted to contactwith the surface of the sieve or screen to maintain said plate in acleanly condition during actuation of the machine.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the bed of the machine, providedwith legs A A and with two longitudinal rails or and a on the innersides of the bed, below the top, for supporting the sieve or screenb,which travels to and fro in one plane upon the same.

a and (t are loose and fast pulleys mounted on a shaft a which is heldin a hearing a suitably secured to the top of the bed A. This shaftcarries a crank-disk 0., located in an opening provided in the top ofthe machine.

a. is a rod one end of which is connected with the crank-pin of the diska and the other end to a journal If, held in the bearings b of arectangular frame 19 b and b are the inner frames between which thesieve or screen I) is mounted, the lower frame Z7 being provided with agrated body 12 formed of wedge-shaped slats or bars crossing each other,as illustrated in Figs. 4: and 5. Upon the knife-like upper edges of theslats or bars of the body I) the sieve or screen I; is supported, theedges of the slats or bars coincidingwith certain of the crossingstrands of the sieve, so as to not only prevent sagging of the sieve,but also to present no obstruction to the openings or meshes of thesieve. A link 0 and an arm 0 are connected, respectively, with eachother and with the journal 12 and one'end of the shaft (1 of a feederand presser cl, mounted within a hop-.

per 61 suitably fitted to the bed A. The device dis provided withfingers or projections d for loosening or breaking up the material inthe hopper d and also aiding in the feeding of the material therein fromsaid hopper and with angular faces 61 and (Z adapted to alternatelycontact with the surface of the sieve or screen bin its to and fromovements with sufiicient pressure to force the material contained inthe hopper (1 through the meshes of the sieve or screen I). The hopperat each end is provided with an adjustable plate or scraper e by meansof tightening screw-bolts e. The reciprocating or traveler sieve orscreen frame is so arranged as that sieves of different degrees of meshmay be readily inserted for producing granules of varying size,according to requirements.

The mode of operation of the apparatus hereinbefore described is asfollows: The plastic or semiplastic material C is placed in the hopper dand the beltfis shifted from the loose pulley a tothe fast pulley a tostart the machine, which imparts motion to the disk a, mounted on theshaft a which motion is communicated by the connectingrod a through thesaid disk to the travelersieve frame I) to cause the sieve to be movedback and forth, and at the same time the said motion causes the feederand presser device d, mounted in the hopper d to be reciprocated orrocked back and forth to feed the material in the hopper downward and toforce the same with the requisite degree of pressure against the meshesof the traveler sieve or screen b and through the same, whereby it istransformed into granules or caused to assume a granulated form andfalling into a suitable receptacle. (Not shown, but which may be placedunderneath the machine to receive the material in such form forsubsequent use.) During the travel of the sieve or screen I) thescrapers e, adjustably connected with the hopper (P, will maintain thesame comparatively clear of any clogging or accumulation of materialover the face and in the meshes of the sieve, thereby insuring a uniformgranulation of the material in the delivery of the same from themachine. By arranging the screen or sieve b so as to be readilyremovable sieves of different mesh may be readily introduced forobtaining different kinds of granulation of materials. The feeding andpressing device 01 not only forces the material through the meshes ofthe sieve, but it also rocks in a direction contrary to the line oftravel of the sieve, thus serving to hold the material so that it may becut up by the strands of the sieve. Thus when the sieve is travelingfrom right to left the lefthand angular face .01 is forced down and fromthe left-hand to the right-hand end of the machine, and when the sieveis traveling in the opposite direction the other angular face 61 isforced down and toward the left-hand end of the machine.

Having thus described the nature and ob jects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A mechanical granulator for plastic or similar material, comprising ahopper or receptacle having an open base, a bed upon which the base ofthe hopper is supported, an open-meshed sieve, means for maintainingsaid sieve in substantially-flat condition in said bed and across thebase of the hopper, means for reciprocating said sieve in said bedacross the openbase of the hopper, and means located within the hopperfor feeding and forcing the material in the hopper toward and throughthe meshes of the sieve during the reciprocation of said sieve,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a mechanical granulator of the character described, an open meshedsieve, a grated body upon which said sieve is supported, said bodycomprising cross-bars having upper knife-like edges adapted to restunder the strands of the sieve, and a frame adapted to clamp the sievedown upon said body, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In a mechanical granulator of the character described, a combinedfeeding and forcing mechanism, in combination with a reciprocatoryopen-meshed sieve, and means for reciprocating said sieve, said feedingand forcing mechanism adapted to present and force the material to andthrough the meshes of the sieve, during the reciprocation of said sieve,substantiallyas and for the purposes described.

4. In a mechanical granulator, a reciprocatory open-meshed sieve, anopen-ended hopper across the open base whereof the sieve is adapted tobe reciprocated, a feeding mechanism having two faces adjacent to andnormally arranged at an angle to the sieve, and means for oscillatingthe feeding mechanism so as to cause each face to alternately approachthe sieve, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. In a mechanical granulator, a feeding mechanism having two angularunder faces, a hopper wherein said feeding mechanism ispivotallysupported,means for oscillating said feeding mechanism in saidhopper to alternately bring an under face toward the base of saidhopper, a sieve, and means for reciprocatingsaid sieve across the baseof said hopper and in a direction opposite to the direction of travel ofthe feeding mechanism, substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. In a mechanical granulator, a combined feeding, pressing anddisintegrating mechanism, comprising an oscillating body having twoangular under faces and upwardly-projecting fingers, substantially asand for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

ABRAHAM ROWLAND MORRIS.

VVitnesses J. WALTER DOUGLASS, RICHARD O. MANUELL.

IIS

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